The developer has spent several million pounds undertaking extensive renovations of the property, which had a decaying exterior and was run down. He is also developing a second 300-acre phase of the estate, which is not part of the sale,

The property, which backs on to the Thames river, was put on the market in 2006 for £45 million after plans to turn it into a luxury country club were rejected by Wokingham borough council following a vociferous campaign by residents.

The main house dates from the early 18th century and was once owned by Frederick, Prince of Wales and eldest son of George II, and was substantially rebuilt in the late 1800s.

Rooms still have the original huge stone fireplaces and stained glass windows. The ghost of Mary Blandy, who was accused of poisoning her father in 1752, is said to haunt the grounds.

The original sale involved several outlying properties, including three houses, 10 tenanted cottages and a further eight in need of renovation.

The property, which was used until 1998 as a boarding school, has two golf courses, a boathouse on the Thames and a stable block. It was recently used in the remake of the film St. Trinians.

Earlier this month, Knight Frank, the estate agents, which has advised on the Park Place sale, published research that concluded that a "notable change is the beginning of international interest" from buyers, especially from Eastern Europeans.

“Our experience is that the ripple effect from London is just beginning to reach the Home Counties where, after a slow start to the year, sales activity is rising," said Rupert Sweeting, Knight Frank’s Head of Country House Sales.

“Generally, the market is still particularly price sensitive: if the price is right, a house will sell within six weeks of coming to the market.”

Mr Spink declined to comment to the Financial Times. Both Knight Frank and Savills, which also advised on the sale, declined to comment.

The phrase "naked gun" is no longer just a movie reference in southwestern Illinois.

Officers responding to a report of shots fired early on Friday morning in nearby Cahokia quickly realised the anonymous tipster who made the call wasn't kidding: the suspected gunman wasn't wearing a single thread of clothing.

Sergeant Ken Schrader said the man, who remains unidentified, and another male fled the scene in a Chevrolet Impala SS shortly after police responded.

Officers pursued the suspect vehicle north on Illinois Route 3 at speeds over 100mph, Schrader said.

The pursuit was called off after the vehicle was seen crossing the Mississippi River via the Poplar Street Bridge, which leads to downtown St Louis.

A spokeswoman for the St Louis Metropolitan Police said via email on Friday that the department did not have any information about the incident.

Cahokia Police are continuing their investigation of the incident, hoping to understand why the suspect, described as a black male, was nude and firing a handgun into the air outside an apartment just after midnight.

Schrader said the incident is not the department's top priority, however, as officers are also investigating an unrelated bank robbery that occurred on Monday afternoon. He said he did not know if this summer's excessive heat or poor economy has affected crime in Cahokia.

"But it's certainly not something you hear about everyday," he said before chuckling.

Calf's head, pickled pig's feet and England's 'first ever' curry recipe... just some of the dishes found in 200-year-old cookbook

A 200 year-old cookbook by the 18th century equivalent to 'Fanny Craddock' found in the back of an old kitchen drawer - contains the first ever English recipe for curry.

The rare recipe book, 'The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy', lifts the lid on the unusual culinary tastes of Georgian Britain and includes baked calf's head and pickled pig's feet.

The crumbling book, written by renowned author Hannah Glasse, dates back to 1796 and features hundreds of recipes and dozens of cures for ailments for things like rabies and the plague.

It also carries the first ever recipe seen in an English cookery book for curry.

The tome contains the first reference to making a curry in an English cookbook

The recipe is remarkably similar to those seen today and includes frying two chickens with herbs and spices before adding cream and stock.

Among the recipes are cures for illnesses, including an antidote for rabies, entitled 'A certain Cure for the bite of a Mad Dog' and 'Receipt against the Plague'.

The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy is credited as being the first of its kind widely available in Britain and is responsible for the raft of subsequent cookery books.

The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy was first published in 1747 and features hundreds of recipes

Great-grandmother Sylvia Sibley, 73, stumbled across the cookery book as she cleared out some of her late mother's possessions at her home in Plymouth, Devon.

Sylvia said: 'Some of the recipes are certainly very unusual and I wouldn't necessarily fancy them.

'I have read through it but the recipes are very complicated. The list of ingredients is very long and uses meat like 'calf's head' which I wouldn't fancy cooking.

'It is interesting to see the difference between these recipes and modern cooking.'

The cookery book is a later edition of one of the first ever widely available cookery books, which was first published in 1747.

In the introduction, Hannah Glasse describes her simple and accessible style and says the book is intended as an instruction manual for servants - which she refers to as 'the lower sort'.

Sylvia Sibley stumbled across the cookery book as she cleared out some of her late mother's possessions

She says: 'I have not wrote in the high profile style, I hope I shall be forgiven; for my intention is to instruct the lower sort and therefore must treat them in their own way.'

Hannah goes on to lament the increased reliance on foreign cooking.She added: 'So much is the blind folly of this age that they would rather be imposed on by a French booby, than give encouragement to a good English cook!'

One unusual recipe, called 'Calf's Head Surprize' instructs followers to 'Take a calf's head with the skin on, take a sharp knife and raise off the skin with as much meat from the bone as you can possibly get, so that it may appear like a whole head when stuffed.

'Stuff the head with ingredients including beef suet, veal, bacon and herbs' before putting the whole thing in the oven for two and a half hours'.

Another reveals how to make a 'mock-turtle' - a stuffed and boiled calf's head split into three - and arranged on a dish and covered gravy.

A certain Cure for the bite of a Mad Dog can also be found in the miscellaneous section at the back, which includes a host of 'medical recipes'.

It states: 'Let the patient be blooded at the arm nine or ten ounces.

'Take of the herb called in Latin lichen cinereus terrestris, in English, ash-coloured, ground liverwort, cleaned, dried and powdered, half an ounce. Of black pepper, powdered, two drachms.

'Mix these well together, and divide the powder into four doses, one of which must be taken every morning fasting, four mornings successively, in half a pint of cow's milk warm.

'After these four doses are taken, the patient must go into the cold bath, or a cold spring or river every morning fasting for a month. 'He must be dipped all over but not to stay in (with his head above water) longer than half a minute, if the water be very cold. After this he must go in three times a week for a fortnight longer.'

Mrs Sibley said she had not had the book valued but cookery books of a similar age have previously been sold for hundreds of pounds.

She added: 'I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it now. I quite like the book and it is certainly very unusual so would like to hold onto it.

'I think it would be quite nice to hand it down to my children one day and keep it in the family.'

These Italian sunbathers seem to be making the most of their summer holidays

So determined are they to enjoy their time on the beach, they don't even turn their heads to the sight of Europe's largest volcano erupting behind them.

Or perhaps it's just volcano fatigue - after all, this is the sixth time Mt Etna has erupted in the last month.

Relaxing: These sunbathers on a beach in Sicily seems unbothered by the eruption of Mt Etna in the distance

Eruption: This is the sixth time that Etna has gone off in the last month

Spectacle: This group of tourists is transfixed by Etna's activity

But the spectacle clearly still has the ability to attract some, as these pictures show crowds of tourists watching the eruptions on the island of Sicily

And one man is brave enough to get right up close to the action in order to to take photographs.

Although the eruptions look violent, they tend not to be particularly damaging, as the lava flows safely away in well-worn channels.

But clouds of ash can make life unpleasant for residents and tourists in the picturesque villages crowded around the foot of the volcano.

Intrepid: This man gets up close to the plume of ash to get the perfect picture

Lava: Etna is one of the most active volcanoes in the world, so displays like this come relatively frequently

Tourists: Etna is one of Sicily's major attractions, despite its potentially deadly dangers

However, although some flights have been disrupted over the last few months, there has not been the same large-scale disruption to European airspace that was seen after the explosion of Iceland's Eyjafjallajökull last year.

Mt Etna is one of the most active volcanoes in the world - hardly a year goes by where it does not erupt in some way.

But this constant activity has helped those who live near Etna to adapt to its presence and take its eruptions in their stride, as these photos show.

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So much news today is dull, depressing, controversial. It's almost impossible to watch news without hearing story after story of war, terror, killing, destruction, government, corruption, etc. I come across weird and wonderful news items as I scan the worlds press that put a smile on ones face or distract one from all the doom and gloom. These are the stories that will make up "The Quirky Globe". If you have any reactions to articles please leave a comment.... it may encourage debate. Pass this site on to your friends who are also fed up with mainstream news and become a follower. Enjoy and smile.